Who is Matthew Hirsch and why is he taunting me?

So you probably know that I was very much against Rudy Fernandez participating in the upcoming Dunk Contest. I think I made that clear. With my official stance on the record, I was confused at this e-mail I received recently:

Hey!

With the 2009 Sprite Slam Dunk Contest taking place this Saturday, I wanted to remind you that fans can text their vote or vote at NBA.com/dunk to help choose this year's champion. Here are some new videos of Rudy Fernandez trying to win over the fans:

Rudy on the Competition: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Mtpx4MlNL0

Top 10 Dunks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbS2RKXPhlA

For more info, see the official Sprite Slam Dunk page: http://www.nba.com/dunk

Watch NBA All-Star Saturday Night Feb. 14 On TNT To Decide Who Will Be The 2009 Sprite Slam Dunk Champion!

Best,

Matt Hirsch

360i on behalf of Coca-Cola
www.coca-cola.com
www.sprite.com

*Any information, assets, or exclusive online content shared in this message does not create an obligation to mention or endorse Sprite*

My original hope was that this was some auto-message that got my e-mail from NBA.com. But if that were the case, it seems odd that NBA.com didn't send it themselves (itself?). It also seems strange that they would generate a letter that pumped up one only one contestant.

Was it a mass message to Blazer Bloggers? Does a secret Blazer Blog e-mail list exist in some corporate database? For now I choose to believe there is some sort of dark conspiracy at work against Deceptively Quick. But who? Why?!?

Anyone seen Finland around lately?